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-rw-r--r--doc/guix.texi38
1 files changed, 19 insertions, 19 deletions
diff --git a/doc/guix.texi b/doc/guix.texi
index cf54fe4215..4206076a9b 100644
--- a/doc/guix.texi
+++ b/doc/guix.texi
@@ -96,8 +96,8 @@ Documentation License.''
GNU Guix@footnote{``Guix'' is pronounced like ``geeks'', or ``ɡiːks''
using the international phonetic alphabet (IPA).} is a functional
package management tool for the GNU system. Package management consists
-in all the activities that relate to building packages from source,
-honoring the build-time and run-time dependencies on packages,
+of all activities that relate to building packages from sources,
+honoring their build-time and run-time dependencies,
installing packages in user environments, upgrading installed packages
to new versions or rolling back to a previous set, removing unused
software packages, etc.
@@ -105,17 +105,17 @@ software packages, etc.
@cindex functional package management
The term @dfn{functional} refers to a specific package management
discipline. In Guix, the package build and installation process is seen
-as a function, in the mathematical sense: that function takes inputs,
-such as build scripts, a compiler, and libraries depended on, and
-returns the installed package. As a pure function, its result depends
+as a function, in the mathematical sense. That function takes inputs,
+such as build scripts, a compiler, and libraries, and
+returns an installed package. As a pure function, its result depends
solely on its inputs---for instance, it cannot refer to software or
scripts that were not explicitly passed as inputs. A build function
-always produces the same result when passed a given set of inputs. Last
-but not least, a build function cannot alter the system's environment in
+always produces the same result when passed a given set of inputs. It
+cannot alter the system's environment in
any way; for instance, it cannot create, modify, or delete files outside
of its build and installation directories. This is achieved by running
-build processes in dedicated ``chroots'', where only their explicit
-inputs are visible.
+build processes in isolated environments (or @dfn{chroots}), where only their
+explicit inputs are visible.
@cindex store
The result of package build functions is @dfn{cached} in the file
@@ -126,12 +126,11 @@ a hash of all the inputs used to build that package; thus, changing an
input yields a different directory name.
This approach is the foundation of Guix's salient features: support for
-transactional package upgrades and rollback, per-user installation, and
+transactional package upgrade and rollback, per-user installation, and
garbage collection of packages (@pxref{Features}).
-Guix has a command-line interface allowing users to build, install,
+Guix has a command-line interface, which allows users to build, install,
upgrade, and remove packages, as well as a Scheme programming interface.
-The remainder of this manual describes them.
Last but not least, Guix is used to build a distribution of the GNU
system, with many GNU and non-GNU free software packages. @xref{GNU
@@ -175,19 +174,20 @@ following packages are also needed:
@item @url{http://gcc.gnu.org, GCC's g++}
@end itemize
-When a working installation of the Nix package manager is available, you
+When a working installation of @url{http://nixos.org/nix/, the Nix package
+manager} is available, you
can instead configure Guix with @code{--disable-daemon}. In that case,
-@url{http://nixos.org/nix/, Nix} replaces the three dependencies above.
+Nix replaces the three dependencies above.
Guix is compatible with Nix, so it is possible to share the same store
between both. To do so, you must pass @command{configure} not only the
same @code{--with-store-dir} value, but also the same
-@code{--localstatedir} value (the latter is essential because it
-specifies where the database that store meta-data about the store is
-located, among other things.) The default values are
+@code{--localstatedir} value. The latter is essential because it
+specifies where the database that stores metadata about the store is
+located, among other things. The default values are
@code{--with-store-dir=/nix/store} and @code{--localstatedir=/nix/var}.
-Note that @code{--disable-daemon} is orthogonal and is not required if
-your goal is to share the same store as Nix.
+Note that @code{--disable-daemon} is not required if
+your goal is to share the store with Nix.
@node Setting Up the Daemon
@section Setting Up the Daemon